


Love Enough to Break a Curse

by nargles_exist



Category: Free!
Genre: Background Hiyori/Ikuya, Bad Luck, Canon Compliant, Curses, Fluff, M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:08:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27372454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nargles_exist/pseuds/nargles_exist
Summary: Makoto has an intense string of bad luck and becomes convinced he's cursed. Haru tries to convince him otherwise.
Relationships: Nanase Haruka/Tachibana Makoto
Comments: 2
Kudos: 40





	Love Enough to Break a Curse

**Author's Note:**

> This is another piece inspired by the Free! Halloweek event on Twitter. One of the prompts was 'bad luck'. Again, it's just cozy domestic fluff and affirmations of love between Haru and Makoto, very loosely constructed around a prompt.

It started with a broken mirror.

Makoto had been running late for class and trying to multitask brushing his teeth, pulling on his socks, and looking through the pile of dirty clothes for the transit card that he _must_ have left in his other pants. It had been inevitable, honestly. It was just the kind of morning that everything went wrong. 

Haru, sitting in the bath, soaking after his morning run, had been just trying to stay out of Makoto’s way, and so he was in a prime spot to witness the disaster. 

Triumphantly brandishing his transit card, Makoto whipped around, his foot tangled in a discarded pair of pants, and he braced himself against the wall to keep from falling. It was semi-successful. He did not fall, but he did slide a bit against the tiles, and his shoulder pushed their full length mirror _just_ enough to send it crashing to the floor in a shower of broken glass. 

Makoto’s mouth dropped open, and he had to scramble to catch his toothbrush. “Oh… Haru, I-- I’m so sorry, I don’t know what-- I’ll clean it up--” He reached down to pick up one of the larger pieces.

“Makoto.” Haru’s voice cut through Makoto’s rising panic babbles and made him freeze, fingers inches from the shard of glass. “Don’t. You’ll cut yourself.” 

Though he drew his fingers back, Makoto’s face was covered in embarrassment and guilt, and his gaze darted around in search of a better way to clean up the disaster he created. He looked like a very large frightened rabbit, frozen against the wall, still holding his toothbrush, and Haru gentled his voice accordingly. 

“Makoto,” he said again, drawing his boyfriend’s alarmed gaze to his own. “Go to class. I’ll take care of it.” He was quietly insistent, and after some feeble protests, Makoto acquiesced, carefully placing a thick towel over the majority of the glass before he left so that Haru could exit the bath without injury. Even in a rush, he thought first of Haru. 

When he heard the front door close, Haru reluctantly dragged himself out of the tub and got dressed. He had time before his own classes to take care of the broken glass, and it was better to handle it calmly himself than it would be to let Makoto fret over it and hurt himself. He got the dustpan and broom and set about clearing away the broken glass. 

Ever since Makoto’s growth spurt in middle school, it had been a challenge to come to terms with his size. He was a big man, bigger than the average person in Japan, and as such, he was constantly a little bit too large for seats, doorways, and just about everything else. He was always aware of the fact that he took up too much room, and while he had learned to make his movements small and precise to keep to the space he was allotted, there were things he couldn’t control. It didn’t bother Haru to occasionally repair or replace things around their house, but he knew that Makoto hated it. He didn’t want to inconvenience anyone. He would probably insist on paying for a new mirror himself. 

After disposing of the broken glass and sweeping the bathroom, Haru went about his day, and he didn’t give the broken mirror another thought.

Until he got home after practice and found Makoto pacing in the front room.

As soon as he closed the door behind himself, Makoto rushed to him. “Haru, I saw Hiyo-chan at the café after class, and he told me that breaking mirrors is seven years of bad luck!”

“That’s just a superstition, Makoto. It has no power if you don’t believe in it,” murmured Haru. He leaned up on his toes to press a kiss to the corner of Makoto’s frown and then made his way to their bedroom so he could change his clothes. Makoto was following him, running his hands through his hair in an agitated manner and shuffling fretfully. Haru pulled out his phone, opening the messages app and scrolling through it. He found Ikuya’s name and tapped out a short message. _Tell your boyfriend to stop scaring my boyfriend._

Almost immediately, he got a short reply. _No._

Haru rolled his eyes to himself, but he wasn’t annoyed. That was just Ikuya, and despite his contrariness, he was good friends with Makoto and wouldn’t want him upset. No one could _want_ to upset Makoto, not even Hiyori, who Haru still didn’t like very much. 

“Haruuuuu,” wailed Makoto, and Haru looked up at him. “You’re not even listening to me!”

“Sorry. What did you say?”

“I don’t think it _is_ just superstition!” complained Makoto. “I was feeling a bit nervous on my way home, and I stopped at the little shrine by the train station. And…” He paused dramatically, his hazel eyes wide with the weight of his next words. “I pulled three dai-kyo! The worst curses!”

“Makoto! You’re not supposed to draw more than one!” The omikuji were considered advice from the gods, so disregarding the one granted and trying again was like rejecting godly advice. Haru was a little bit shocked that Makoto defied this unwritten rule. 

“I panicked! And then since I had already tried twice, I thought it couldn’t be any worse to try one more time. I didn’t dare go for four, though.” Makoto’s face looked pale, like he was actually really shaken from this experience.

“Well,” said Haru, after a moment. “That’s good.” He didn’t really believe that Makoto was cursed, and he wasn’t the greatest at providing reassurance or comfort. That was Makoto’s territory. But he gave it a try. “I’m sure it’s just a coincidence. Why don’t you go take a bath and try to relax. I’ll make dinner.”

Coincidence or not, Makoto’s anxiety just grew over the course of the evening. Nothing seemed to be going right for him. As they ate dinner, Makoto managed to spill a huge amount of salt _into_ his food, rendering it mostly inedible, and then he burned his mouth when he tried to heat up some leftovers. His pen leaked ink all over his nearly-completed homework, and he had to recopy it onto a fresh page. He was a wreck when he finally retreated to bed. Haru tried to reassure him that it was only a bad day, not a curse, but he could feel Makoto tossing and turning fitfully all night.

The next morning, Haru got up to do his standard run, even though it was a Saturday. He liked routines, and he didn’t see the point of changing just because he didn’t have classes to attend. He felt better when things were steady, dependable. That was one of the things he liked about Makoto. Little things had changed about Makoto as they grew older, but overall, he was the same boy Haru had known and loved all his life, and he couldn’t imagine ever being without him. He considered himself extremely lucky that they had both gotten accepted to the same University, and he was planning to put considerable effort into making sure they were able to stay together after they graduated. Makoto was the most important.

He planned to tell Makoto that, as he returned home and slipped out of his running shoes. He peeked around the bedroom door, but Makoto was still in bed, the covers pulled up halfway over his face. Haru supposed sentimentality could wait, so he settled in for a soak in the tub. 

After a little while, he started feeling like something was wrong. Usually Makoto would be up by now. He always stumbled in, all half asleep, and mumbled a ‘good morning’ while Haru was still in the bath. Almost always. 

Vaguely disturbed, he dried himself off and went to check on his boyfriend. Haru gently sat on the bed and tried to peel the thick duvet back from Makoto’s face, but to his surprise, Makoto wiggled back down underneath it. “Makoto, are you feeling sick?” he asked, a hint of worry in his voice. 

“‘m fine,” mumbled Makoto.

“Are you getting up?” asked Haru, trying again to uncover Makoto. 

“No.” Despite the fact that Makoto was not swimming competitively anymore, he was still in pretty good shape, and Haru was having trouble wresting away the blanket from him. “I’m just gonna stay in bed today. Where it’s safe.”

“What are you talking about?” huffed Haru. 

“It’s Halloween, _and_ a full moon, and I’m cursed. I’ll just stay here.”

“Makoto…” Haru had a lot of experience with feeling depressed and like it wasn’t worth it to get up and do anything--though he usually preferred to stay in the bath rather than in bed--and he wasn’t going to insist that Makoto needed to get over it. If he was planning to stay in bed all day, he must be really feeling bad. Haru resumed his struggle with the duvet, but this time he wasn’t trying to get Makoto out. “Let me in,” he said, when Makoto’s struggles didn’t seem to be dwindling. 

“Why?” came the muffled reply, but the death grip on the blanket slackened enough that Haru could climb into the bubble of warmth and wrap his arms around Makoto.

“I’ll keep you company for a while,” said Haru, pressing his face into the back of Makoto’s back. 

“You don’t have to…”

“I want to.”

They stayed under the blankets, curled together, for a few hours. Makoto had his phone with him, propped up on a pillow in the darkness, and they watched YouTube videos of baby animals and people baking until they dozed off. 

It was about midday when Haru pulled himself free and emerged from the coziness of the blankets. “I’m going to do some errands,” he reassured Makoto, “and find us something to eat. I’ll be back soon.”

He came back a bit later with some meat buns from the closest convenience store, and he left a bottle of cold tea on the table where Makoto could reach it. But he had one more errand to take care of before he returned to bed. And he was pretty sure that it would make his boyfriend extremely happy, if everything worked out as he planned. "Eat, Makoto," he commanded, as he left again. 

The sun was low in the sky when he finally returned, and he half hoped that Makoto would have decided to get up on his own while he was gone. He was not really surprised, though, to find the lump of blanket where he left it. The bottle of tea was empty, and there were bun wrappers sitting on the table next to it. At least he had eaten. Haru could hear faint music coming from under the thick duvet, so he assumed Makoto was watching some kind of baking montage. Perfect. 

"Hey, Mako," he called softly. "Are you awake? I brought you a present."

There was a disgruntled 'mrpghth' noise in response. Clearly Makoto didn't feel like a present would really cheer him up right now. That was fine. Haru shifted the present in his arms, causing it to cry in protest. 

"Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew."

The blankets lurched, and Makoto sat up and flailed the covers off of his head. "Haru! That's a kitten!"

"I know." Haru stepped closer, letting Makoto's wide eyes take in the ball of fluff he was holding. The kitten was still pretty small, though the shelter assured him she was old enough to be adopted. He thought she was probably the runt, which was partly why he was drawn to her. Her fur was just a haze of black fuzz with scattered white hairs peeking through the black, and her eyes were still a murky shade of grey. 

"We aren't allowed to have pets," protested Makoto, but his eyes were glued to the little kitten as it wiggled against Haru's chest. 

"I talked to Mrs. Nakamura, and she said that for you, she would make an exception." Haru suspected that this bit of rule-bending was in large part due to Makoto bringing her groceries last winter when she had the flu. It was time for his kindness to be repaid. 

"Really?" Makoto's hands were shaking when he reached out for the kitten. "Does… does it have a name?"

"Not yet," said Haru, moving to sit beside him, leaning close. "I thought you should name her."

Makoto cradled the kitten against his chest, the tiny body almost disappearing in his big hands. "We'll have to come up with something that suits her," he whispered, running his fingers over her soft ears. She began to knead at his shoulder, tiny but sharp claws disappearing into his shirt. "Oh, Haru, she's purring! Oh, happy girl..."

Haru watched Makoto cuddle the kitten until she fell asleep in his arms. "Makoto," he whispered. "Do you like her?"

"I _love_ her."

"Some people," began Haru slowly, "believe that black cats are bad luck. Or curses." He felt Makoto's body tense up. "What do you think?"

For a moment, there was silence. "No," replied Makoto, finally. He touched a gentle finger to her outstretched paw. "There isn't anything bad about her. It's just a superstition." He looked at Haru with a sheepish expression. "I get what you're saying." 

Haru leaned in to kiss him tenderly. "You can stay in bed if you want," he said. "But I only got her the basics. Sometime we'll need to go to the pet store and get some toys and a collar and a bed of her own."

"In a little while," said Makoto, looking down at the kitten sleeping in his arms. "Let her sleep for now."

"What's the opposite of a curse?" Haru asked, after a moment. 

"A blessing?"

"Maybe that's what we should call her."

"She is a blessing," said Makoto, smiling down at her. Then his gaze met Haru's. "One of many in my life."

Haru reddened, but he didn't turn away. "I love you, Makoto. Even if you were cursed for seven years, I would still want to be with you. Being without you would be worse than any curse."

"Haru..." whispered Makoto. He wasn't used to Haru being so direct about his feelings, or so eloquent in expressing them. With his free arm, he pulled Haru close, resting their heads together. "I love you, too. My Haru-chan."

Grunting, Haru complained, "How long are you going to insist on calling me -chan?"

"Until we're ninety," announced Makoto. 

"Makoto."

"Yes?"

"Kiss me."

Haru supposed it was a fair trade off. He would put up with being called Haru-chan if he got to have Makoto until they were ninety. _That_ would be a blessing.


End file.
